The Hypocrisy Of Mexico & Vincente Fox

Mexico's Fox Urges Fairness for Immigrants: Touring the West, Mexican Leader Opposes Fence

Fundamentally, Mr. Fox has missed a lot of the picture here. While he is advocating fairness for immigrants from Mexico to the United States, Mexico continues to have policies that force US citizens to be tourists in Mexico. Permanent residence in Mexico is severely limited, as is travel throughout Mexico for any period of time, except to the established tourist traps like Cancun, Acapaulco, etc. In the meantime, the crime wave focused on American tourists continues in Mexico City and the Mexican government has done little to effect change in these matters. Additionally, the border towns like Tiajauna, Nogales, Neuvo Laredo, Reynoso, Matamoros, and Juarez continue to have an anti-American police and court system that assumes the guilt of any American in disputes over payment, fights and involvement in illegal activities (i.e. prostitution). These border towns have a long history of police bribes, long jail sentences for minor offenses, police brutality and unjust processes toward those Americans that might cross the border for some fun in these municipalities.

Mexico has done basically nothing to curb the corruption and anti-American practices in these regions. It is not that some of these visitors to Mexico do not deserve to be arrested, but they do not receive the same basic rights and humane treatment that are offered this side of the border, despite decades of promises to do so. Now that Mexico is considering legalization of small amounts of major recreational drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, etc., we can expect increased traffic down to Mexico by inexperienced youngsters and hard core drug users. We can almost state as a foregone conclusion that the number of arrests for disorderly conduct will increase, leading to what has sometimes amounted to 6 months in jail for a drunken episode unless, of course, a certain amount of money is exchanged in the "unofficial" process.

Having been a young sailor stationed down in San Antonio, visiting San Diego, and traveling through the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico, I have visited many of these towns and have seen the vast Mexican poverty and the corruption. Some of the Mexican citizens in Tiajuana and Juarez literally lived next to garbage heaps in makeshift cardboard, scrap wood and scrap metal shacks, drinking filthy water and scavenging the garbage heaps for food. I witnessed these things in the 1970s, and have it on good account that much of this still occurs, despite the promises of the Mexican government.

Additionally, US citizens are limited as to where they might own property and operate businesses in Mexico, while no such restrictions exist here in the US for those Mexican citizens entering the US via legitimate methods. There are so many unfair rules, attitudes and practices toward American citizens in Mexico that it seems ironic that fairness is an issue.

Further, the Mexican government makes no provision for schools, welfare, medical care or other social benefits for any American living in Mexico. They barely make those provisions for their own people, but fully expect that these services will be provided on this side of the border.

This is not a race, ethnic or place of origin issue. It is a national security issue. Plain and simple. It does present some complex problems and some ethical issues that need to be resolved, but the matter of protecting our borders is a matter of sovereignty and security.

So, when Vincente Fox speaks about fairness to immigrants coming across our borders, one has to question his grasp of reality and his sense of decency, as well as his integrity as the leader of Mexico.

We need to protect our borders and a fence is a relatively low-tech, low-cost approach that offers a first layer in an overall border security plan. In this matter, I think we need to tell Mr. Fox to go to hell.

Adding a voice from south of the border to the national debate on immigration, Mexican President Vicente Fox is barnstorming the western United States this week, arguing against fencing off the U.S.-Mexico border and asking Americans for "decent treatment of our people."

Reminding his audiences that he once worked for a "a little small U.S. business you may have heard of: Coca-Cola," Fox is visiting the states of Utah, Washington and California in a four-day trip that includes speeches in English to business and political leaders and Spanish-language rallies with Mexicans working in this country, legally or otherwise.

The U.S. tour is designed partly to enhance cross-border trade and investment. But Fox has also taken pains to present the Mexican view of the raging U.S. debate over immigration -- or, as he calls it, "the migration phenomenon."

Addressing the Utah legislature Wednesday in accented but clear English, Fox insisted that Mexican immigrants have been a boon to this country. "Mexico is proud, very proud, of its people here, whose working spirit and moral values contribute every day to the economy and society of this great nation," he said.

And he spoke out repeatedly here against proposals to build fences along the border. The U.S. House has passed legislation calling for a 700-mile fence to cut the flow of immigrants, and the Senate last week voted to build a three-tiered fence stretching 370 miles.

"We don't put up walls," Fox told a predominantly Latino crowd in Spanish at a lively rally Tuesday in a Salt Lake suburb. "That's not the way you're going to fix the problem. Walls that pretend to solve the problem only provoke distance between two peoples."

Expanding on this theme, Fox told the legislature: "Enforcement-only measures will not solve the challenges posed by the migration phenomenon. . . . Among friends, neighbors and partners, bilateral dialogue and cooperation is key component."

The president's whirlwind, 24-hour stop in Utah took him from a breakfast of refried beans and cheese salsa at a Mexican food warehouse to a dinner of mushroom-crusted rainbow trout hosted by Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R). The rest of his Western tour will follow a similar pattern. After stops in Yakima and Seattle, Wash., he heads to California, where he is to address immigrant groups and then meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

As a foreign head of state campaigning in this country on matters of U.S. law, Fox got a hostile response on some talk radio shows here and from local members of the Minutemen, a citizens group that wants to restrict Mexican immigration. A few dozen protesters chanted outside each of his Utah stops. "Our immigration law is for us to decide, not some Mexican," said a Minuteman member from Salt Lake City who identified himself only as Clay.

But the more common response here seemed favorable, even from political leaders who have been identified with the anti-immigration position.

As part of a crackdown, last year, the Utah legislature passed a law denying a state identification card or a driver's license to any applicant who cannot prove legal residence. (Instead, the state issues immigrants a "driving privilege card," which declares in bold letters that it is not a legal form of identification.)

But the author of that law, Republican state Sen. Curtis Bramble, said his views on immigration have been altered somewhat because of his discussions with Fox and other Mexican officials during this week's visit. "I have a better understanding now of the position of the Mexican government," Bramble said. "Before this trip, the perception was that they were unconcerned about the immigration problem. But now I see they want to work together with us. And I agree -- there is room for dialogue."

Nonetheless, Bramble said he still believes that fences and tougher enforcement would be "an appropriate policy on some sections of the border."

Fox also seemed to score points with business leaders in Salt Lake City, telling an audience of 500 that Mexico is eager to increase trade across the border. At every stop, he pointed out that Mexico is the United States' second-largest trading partner (after Canada), and buys more U.S. goods and services than Germany, Italy, France and Britain combined.

The president also offered thanks to the state of Utah. Despite the tough legislation passed last year, Utah permits the children of undocumented residents to take advantage of in-state tuition rates at state colleges, and provides emergency medical care to all who need it.

These policies, Fox said, make the state "a real example of what can be done with respect to dignity and humanity."

But the Mexican leader's most rapturous reception in Utah came in meetings with immigrants from Mexico and other Latin countries. Each time he met with groups of his countrymen, Fox told them that their long-term ties to Mexico will continue while they live and work in the United States.

"Even though you are far from Mexico, you are an integral part of Mexico," Fox said at the rally here on Tuesday. "Over there, we wait for you with open arms."